Loose-leaf binder



Apr. 3, 1923. 1,450,267

n c. D. TRussELl.

LOOSE LEAF BINDER Filed Apr'. '7'1l`1920 2 sheets-sheet l Apr. 3, 1923.1,450,267

. I IC. D. TRUSSELL. i

vLoosE LEAF BINDER Filed Apr. 7, 1920 2 sheets-shed 2 172,73A j@ la.izggl.

-By A ttorneys,

Patented Apr. 3, 1923. l

i UNM-@De SLM-TES 1 CLARENCE n. TRUssELLQoE :PoUeHKEEEsIE, NEW YoRK',YAssiGNoR To 'rRUssELn' MANUFACTURING COMPANY, 0E POU'GHKEEBSIENEW YORK,A"CoRPoRA'rIoNl OF NEW'YORK. Y

vLoosE-LEAE BINDER.

t Application filed April 7, 1920l Serial No: 371,874.

E To all 'whom it may concern t. t Be it known that I, CLARENCE D. TRUS-SELL, a citizen of the United States ofv America, residing invPoughkeepsie, in the county of Dutchess and State of New York;` haveinvented certain new anduseful Imi' provements'inLoose-Leaf Binder-s, ofwhich the following is a specification. k

Thisv inventiony relates to temporary binders or thosey designed forbindinglto`` gether loose leaves in book form. It relates particularlyto so-called ring binders, wherein half rings or hooks are adapted toclosev together to constitute: binding means ...and to: open out topermit theremoval of theV per-V forated sheets or leaves. k y

The improvements relate especially'to the construction of half rings vorhooks, and their Carrying platesan d to thev` construction of aligners.ror centering pieces which arev applied to the topI plate ofthe binderand serveto hold` the bound sheets outwardly in en-f gagement with theinner faces-of the hooks.

The preferred construction and certain modications thereof will beAdescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings,

. Figure y1 isa ytransverse section showing the hooks closed and thebook partly 4filled with loose leaves; y Fig. 2 lis a plan showing thebook. open, with the leavesremoved and the hooks separated; Fig. 3 is afragmentary plan ofthe vtop plate.. .Y

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary planof the` hook plates; p l A' Fig. 5 is anelevation of one of thejhooks; Fig. 6 is a perspective of one of thehooks; Fig. 7 is an enlargementofpart of Fig. 4, illustrating theniodemof inserting the hooksin the hookgplate; t l l Fig 8 is ayperspective view ofy one of the. aligners; y e l Fig. 9 isa view similarto-'Fig 1,' showing a modified construction; t' t c l Fig. 10 isaperspective view ofthe hook shown in Fig. 9; f Y

Fig. 11 is an elevation of a hook.; Fig.. 12 is aplan cfa-modifiedconstruction of hzook plate, showin the mode ofintro ducing the hookthereinto;

duced,; and f, t

Fig. 14. a similar view showing the parts swagedv togethenthe resultingattachment being show-n in- Figi: A15.y in side s.-v,iew,l withl thehookplate in cross-section; y

rig.. 16 shows a modification of Figa-f In Figs l land 52, Aydesignatesrthe book cover, and B as a whole the loose-leafbindingmechanism,"which commonly comprises an attaching'plate C suitablyfastenedto the book back, a spring back plateDfa pairof hook lplates E,E, andl two orv morepairs of hooksorhalfrings F,'F, fastened tothehook'iplates.` The 'hook plates arefengaged l attheir inner or meetingedges, and'fhave "a hinge connectionwith the flanges ofthe `backfplateyD at their outer-edges'l Allf of* these parts may be of any usualconstruction` and be substitutedbyany equivalents knownI in the art,except with respect to those feat- Vti'iresihereinafter set Lforth as'constituting l necessary partsk or elements of the presentf invention; f

L'Oneffeature lof inventionprovides Aa `simple'and-cheap means -forattaching the hooksF tothe hook plates E. y"Y1-he hook plates are formedwith( openings forfslots, and the hooks are formed 'with oppositenotches; the hooks haveftheir notchedends introduced injto'the Openingsinigthe plates, v l the` two being forcibly united-so that por# tions'the plate'enter the fnotches in ,thehookv with vsuch i a tight' fitthat anyr displacement of the 'hooks under practical conditions of usebecomes impossible.' One suitable construction is that best shown inFigsl 2 to 7 ,'inclu'sive.The'hook plates E Flarel here .formed withopenings@ havingv each a largeiportion .b 'to 'receive the bas'efoffthehook, and la' narrow 'p'ortion v'0: 'to make a tight iit with thenotched partl thereof;

Eachhook vF is formed of wire elliptical in" cross-section; and" has,near lits 'end designed foratt'aehm'ent tothe plate' opposite notches fZgj leaving beneath lthese a head'e. The enlarged VpartV b open.

ing is large enough .toi freely admit the head ,fas shown in- Fig. 7,while 4the narrowf'p'ortion cof the opening forms a slot barely Wide vion `enough Ito receive the shank of the hookbetweenthe notches d. y'Tounite the partis. the head eis thrust into "thejlarger part oftheopening, and the" base of the'v hook is forcibly moved tothe vpositionshown 'in dotted lines 'atff in `7. The proper; f

tions of the parts are such that when lthus displaced, the thickness ofthe plate Ev is tightly embraced between the sides, of the notches cil,"andthe neek portion between the notches Z is tightly embraced in thenarrow slot c, so that the plate and hook are united with greattightness and firmness. This displacing operation is performed underpressure in a suitable press, or by means of any suitable constructionof dies. lf the interfittingparts are correctly proportioned, the jointthus made is. amply secure without any necessity of swag-ing or rivetingthe metal. The described construction is very cheap, and the parts canbe assembled with great rapidity.

This construction mayy be modified, as shown', for example, infF ig. 9,where the opening a in the plate E is of substantially the cross-sectionof the base e of the hoolnand the hook is turned at right angles. forinsertingits base through this opening, whereupon the ,hook is forciblygiven a quarter turn, so that its notches d engage the mai'- ginsoftheopening a with the requisite rmness-- If desired, the engagement maybe tightened by swag-ing or riveting the head `e.

lVith the constructions thus Vdescribed it ispreferable to make the hookof wire, elliptical or approximately so in cross-section. Vith theconstructions shown in Figs. 11 to 153V inclusive, the hooks may be madeof round wire. A v Fig. 11 shows thehoolr in side view, and Fig. 12shows the plate with its opening a3, which in this case is a slot ornotch entering in` from'one edge. The notched portion of theuhool; E, is`presented and introduced as shown in Fig. 12, bringing it to theposition shown in Fig. 13, whereupon byI a swaging operation the head eof the hook is squeezed or riveted into the enlarged part of the openingso Vas to fillthe latter in the ,manner shown in Fig. 14, `the,completed structure being shown in Fig. 15. v It will be seen thatineach ot the forms claimed in my present applicationthe platehasopenings which iirst admit the baseportions of the hooks, and'theseportions are then displaced with respect to theV openings, either bymoving the hook outwardly (toward the outer or hinge ledges of the hookplates) as in F igs. ,2, 4f and 7, orA by turning the hook at rightangles, as in Fig. 9, or by upsetting or' swaging the base portion. ofthe hooi; as in Figs. 12k-15. In each lcase the plate remains unalteredin the process 'of ,uniting ,the hooks,l their tight engagement beingbrought about by a change in the base portion of the hooks.; and eachcase the plate has solid metal between the opening where the hook isiinally fixedly held and its margin at'the meeting edge.

A further feature of the invention prowardly with their holes in contactwith the inner faces oitherings, thereby evening or aligning the outeredges of thev sheets and preventing that looseness or irregularity of'thesheets which is commonly observed, in loose-leaf books of thischaracter. The aligners shown at G are essentiallyronntl objects locatedwithin or adjacent to the eX- treme rings or pairs of hooks F nearoppiosite ends of theQbool'; (or, in the case of books having more thantwo pairs yof hooks, the aligners` maybe introduced within theintermediate pairs, or between pairs, if desired). While it is notessential that the alignershall be located directly withiny the rings orhook pairs, yet this is the preferable construction, although theirfunction be performed if they are located reasonably near' to suchpairs. ,Thevpresent invention provides for mounting the aligners uponvthe usual Vtep plate H. This topplate isusnally ofthe constructio'nshown cross-section in Fig l,h"a".v ing sideflanges which embraceyieldingly bei; twfe'enthemk the angededges of the spring baer; platt D,indienne inem notches t to receive the `h'o'eks F. iich aligiies haveheretofore been attaehed t thel hook `plates E, but by the presentinventionV theyare at# tached tothe top plata-'which affords abetterbase for the aligners because it is substantially immovable in use.rTliepi'efejrred construction 'of the aligiieis yifs that shown in Fig.e, the aligner beingfpaehed out ef sheet metal and then bent intosubstantially the f'rin shown. lTlie eiid's'of the strip are broughtnear to, one another and are adapted fer connection in any suitablemanner with the top plate H. 4A desirable construction is that shown,wherein the ends 'of thealigner are formed on opposite Asides withnotches i adapted to engage slots in rthe top plate. The1engaigf'eiiflent preferably is accomplished by making the aligni'metal,` vso that its end portions teiid strongly to spring toward*V eachother, or vaway from each other',

as any be preferred. rn nie Construction shown in F igs.v l an'd 3, theyare 'liiader to spring toward each other, the slots-jj in the top plate,being of the shape clearly shown in Fifnggcorn 'rising ,lengei portion cjust vsufli'cie'n'tly long to receive the unn't'ched sans or the alignerand shatter ponan z to 4receive the notce'd end portions oi the aligner;The "connection is made by sprino'- ing the ends of the aligner apartlsiiiiicien' to pass them through the longer portions 1 ico ias

longer than its side portions Z. The aligner l is of the sameconstruction as shown in ig. V8, but in this case its ends tend tospringoutwardly. It is inserted by pressing its end portions together andintroducing them through the elongated portion 7c', and then permittingthem to separate, so that their notched portions engage with the shorterportions Z of the opening, as indicated in F ig. 16. This constructionis suitable if the aliner is made sufficiently stili:l so that itsoutward pressure will keep it in place, notwithstanding the' inwardpressure of the bound sheets in use.

The connection between the aligner and top plate may be otherwiseaccomplished in any known or suitableway. The constructions describedhave the advantage that they do not require any riveting or swagingtogether of the engaging parts; nevertheless, such riveting or swagingis not inhibited in the practice of my invention.

The describedconstructions tend to improve the operation and cheapen themanufacture of loose-leaf binders of the ring type. It is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited to the precise embodimentsshown and described, any modifica tion'or variance ,thereof within thescope of the appended claims being within the invention.

What I claim is zl. A loose-leaf binder` comprising op!` posed relatedhook plates and hooks, the plates formed with openings to receive thehooks and the hooks having their base portions notched on opposite sidesto engage the marginal portions of said openings, theV openingsbeing ofsize to permit the insertion ofthe base portions of the hooks throughthe openings, andthe hooks and openings related to admit of adisplacement of the base portion or the hooks after such insertion to afinal interlocking relation where the parts are in tight engagement, the

plateshaving at the openings marginal portions preventing outwarddisplacement'of the hoo-kbases. e

2. A binder according to claim l, the

openings in the plates being holes shaped to admit the base portions ofthe hooksin one position of the latter and to engage the notches thereinafter displacement of the` hooks.

3. A binder openings in the plates being holes having laccordingA toclaim l, the y each a wider portion and a narrower po-rtion, the widerportio-nsshaped to admit the of the latter and thev i narrower portionsbase portions of the hooks in one position portions of the hooks afterthe displacement of the latter .to final position. l 4. A binderaccording to claim 3, the holes being narrower on the sides toward theouter edges of the plates, and wider on the sides remote from suchedges.

5. A loose-leaf ybinder comprising opposed movable hook plates, hoo-ksltixedtosaid plates, a top plate covering the hook plates, the latterconnected to occupy a fixed relationvto said top plate when the hoo-ksare closed, and aligners for the leaves mounted on said top plate, andformed of bent sheet metal, their ends interlocked with openings in thetop plate. Y

6. A loose-leafbinder according to claim 5, the openings in the topplate being slots adapted to receive the ends of the aligners, and thelatter having portions entering and engaging with such slots. 1

7. A loose-leaf binder according to claim 5, `the aligners formed ofbent sheet-metal having notched ends, and the'openings receiving ksaidnotched ends, said openings having narrower portions engaging saidnotched ends to hold the aligners fiXedly in place.

.-8. A loose-leaf binder according to claim i 5,- the .aligners 'formedof bent resilient sheet-metal having notched ends', and the openingsreceiving said notched ends, said openings having narrower portionsengaging therewith and held in engagement by the resilient stress of thealigners.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

omini-Lives n. TRUssELL.

